Jo Boaler

Bestsellers: Mathematical Mindsets (bestseller), Limitless Mind, What's Math Got to Do With It?, Math-ish, plus the K-8 Mindset Mathematics series

The Deal: Stanford professor Jo Boaler is the person your math-anxious friend needs to meet. Named one of the BBC's "8 educators changing the face of education," she's spent her career proving that "math person" is a myth—and a harmful one.

Her Youcubed initiative at Stanford has reached millions of students and teachers. She taught the first MOOC on math education (40,000 participants). Her research on timed tests and math anxiety has changed how schools think about assessment. The controversial bit? She was a lead author on California's 2023 Math Framework, which sparked heated debates about tracking and algebra timing. Love her or argue with her at conferences, Boaler has fundamentally shifted how we talk about who can do math.